DIN 1451

Area	Fonts
title	Typefaces, Sans Serif Linear Antiqua, Part 1: General, Part 2: Traffic Typeface, Part 3: Printed Typefaces for Lettering, Part 3 Supplement 1: Akzidenz-Grotesk, Part 3 Supplement 2: Akzidenz-Grotesk-Buch, Part 3 Supplement 3: Helvetica , Part 3 Supplement 4: Publications; Edel-Grotesk (part 3 and supplements 1–4 have been withdrawn), part 4: stencil writing for engraving and other processes
Brief description:	DIN font
Latest edition	1983 to 2018
ISO	-

DIN 1451 Mittelschrift: Examples of the old form

DIN 1451 Mittelschrift: Figures of the form published in 1980 and introduced in 1981

DIN writing on a license plate

Signpost made of plywood as it was set up between 1956 and 1971. Since DIN 1451 was still often hand-painted on the signs at that time, significant deviations from the ideal were possible.

A town entrance board made between 1971 and 1981 in the old DIN central script

A signpost with DIN middle script and DIN narrow script that has been in use since 1992

Postmark
DIN narrow, medium and wide letters

The DIN standard DIN 1451 (from 1931 initially as a pre-standard , from 1936 as a standard ) describes the standard script for the areas of technology and traffic. In Germany it is known to the general public from place-name, motorway, railway and other (mostly official) signs. It was used for German license plates for many years until it was replaced by the FE font on November 1, 2000 .

history

The writing is on the drawing pattern IV 44 back in 1906, illuminated by the Prussian standing leadership Hessian Prussian railway community was normalized for labeling of rail vehicles. The engineer Ludwig Goller (1884–1964), employed by Siemens , was from 1925 as chairman of the DIN committee for drawings, responsible for developing the standard. The main focus was on legibility, but all strokes should have the same thickness ( linear antiqua , sans serif ), which contradicts traditional typography . At the time of its first publication in 1931, DIN 1451 comprised the fonts narrow , medium and wide .

Beyond the new version of the Road Traffic Regulations published in 1970, the typographical rules were only relatively roughly worded. The standard DIN 1451 in its previous form remained in continuous use. This changed in 1981 when many revised numeric characters and figures were enacted to make them easier to read. In addition, concepts were developed for a more careful design of the track width . Here, too, the focus was on improved legibility. The broad font was no longer included in the new version of the standard. It occurs only rarely today, e.g. B. on older place and street signs with short names and on postmarks for the postcode.

Use outside of Germany

In the transport sector, the script is - often slightly modified - except in Germany and the like. a. used in Greece (motorway signage) as well as in the Czech Republic , South Africa , Namibia and the Middle East . In Austria its own official was until 2011 standard font ( Austria ) applied, which is modified from the DIN 1,451th

variants

Deutsche Bahn AG

The Deutsche Bahn AG uses today - like the Deutsche Bundesbahn before - for technical addresses on rail vehicles the font according to DIN 1451-4, whereby a few characters have been modified. For example, a different t-symbol was prescribed for a weight specification in tons or a different l-symbol for volume in liters than in the flowing text. Since only one character form per letter is possible in a font, generally only the "t" and "l" are used as for tons and liters, whereby the "t" deviates from DIN 1451-4. The round shape that was valid until 1980 is still used for the digits 6 and 9.

The bold narrow and medium fonts of DIN 1451-4 are fonts that are composed of grids. Most characters are three rasters wide and seven rasters high in narrow script. In the case of the middle script, almost all characters are four grids wide and seven grids high. The line width is always a grid; Roundings protrude 0.1 grid. For example, with a font height of 70, the "B" is 70 mm high and 30 mm wide. A “0” (zero) is 72 mm high and 30 mm wide, as it is round at the top and bottom. The width of the middle script is 40 mm. The space to the next character is again one grid width, and a space is also to be used with three or four grid widths.

For most technical addresses, the close font is used for letters, the middle for the digits 0 and 2 to 9. In the case of vehicle numbers, the letter “1” is used differently.

The fonts of DIN 1451-4 are not available on the market as font files. Any font files with the name bold close-text and bold medium-type are more related to DIN 1451-3, which corresponds to or is based on the fonts described above. Since the fonts are not available, mostly only related fonts are shown even in the drawings of the DB AG. In the comments on the drawing, reference is then made to DIN 1451 G for narrow script and DIN 1451 H for middle script along with text height. Standard font heights are used for most addresses; these are 10, 16, 20, 25, 30, 32, 35, 40, 50, 60, 63, 80, 100 and 125 mm. For example, according to UIC 438 , car numbers are written in 80 mm high digits.

Berthold-DIN

The type manufacturer Berthold developed the DIN medium script and the DIN narrow script for photo typesetting in 1981 under the artistic director Günther Gerhard Lange. From the late 1980s onwards, it was used more and more by designers, although it did not conform to the classic typographical rules.

German Post AG

The Deutsche Post AG uses today - like the Deutsche Bundespost before - for its postmarks the narrow, medium and wide letters according to DIN 1451, whereby the numbers 3, 6 and 9 have been modified to avoid confusion. Engschrift is used for the date, middle script for the place name and broad script for the postcode.

FF DIN

For desktop publishing , FSI FontShop International has been offering a typographically optimized "FF DIN", which has been expanded by font designer Albert-Jan Pool to include additional fonts since 1995 . In the "FF DIN", the horizontal lines are thinner than vertical ones in contrast to the previous DIN font - the principle of constant line width has therefore been abandoned - and the transitions from circles to straight lines have been harmonized. This further development resulted in a large family that for the first time even contained real italic fonts , equally expanded condensed versions as well as a significantly more extensive set of characters and foreign languages. Although there is a discussion among designers about the aesthetics of DIN 1451, the FF DIN in particular is often used in graphics and advertising, for example by companies such as Nike , Adidas , Yello Strom , Toyota and Jaguar .

Linotype-DIN

The type manufacturer Linotype has had a “DIN Next” for several years.

Microsoft railway font

Since Build 16273 is in Windows 10 , the sans serif font " railway magazine included". According to Microsoft, the font is based on DIN 1451.

comparison

Narrow script
Middle script
Broad font

Web links

Commons : DIN 1451 - Collection of images, videos and audio files

DIN 1451 medium type and DIN 1451 large type by Peter Wiegel
Prussian pattern drawing IV 44 by Peter Wiegel
DIN 1451 medium script for download

Individual evidence

↑ DIN font. 100besteschriften.de, November 21, 2015.
↑ P. Krieg: Design and execution of traffic signs and testing of durability. In: Straße und Autobahn , 4, 1980, pp. 196-200; here: p. 196.
^ Bahnschrift font family - Typography. Retrieved February 25, 2020 (American English).

[1] DIN font. 100besteschriften.de, November 21, 2015.

[Straße_und_Autobahn_1980_196-2] P. Krieg: Design and execution of traffic signs and testing of durability. In: Straße und Autobahn , 4, 1980, pp. 196-200; here: p. 196.

[3] Bahnschrift font family - Typography. Retrieved February 25, 2020 (American English).